Family Office & RIA Newsletter

Volume 163 • 03/19/2026

Ex-Commonwealth Duo Launches RIA, Gender Gap Persists, and Wells Fargo Ramps Up Hiring in the latest edition...

Take a Lap Around the Industry 🏃

• $34B Allworth Launches Women's Initiative (WealthManagement.com)
• Edward Jones Ups Advisor Headcount in 2025 While Trimming Home Office Staff (WealthManagment.com)
• Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Surpasses $1T in Individual Retirement Account Assets Under Management (BusinessWire)
• Nvidia Restarts Manufacturing of AI Chips for China (FinancialTimes)

Family Office Deal Tracker

• In a Venture Round, the eCommerce staffing and recruiting company, Zcash Open Development Lab, has raised $5M with investments from a16z Perennial and Winklevoss Capital Management
• Artha India Ventures has participated in a $1M Seed funding round for Cheerio AI, the India-based agentic AI platform 
• German-based AI coding assistant startup, Tower, has obtained $6.4M in a Pre Seed funding round with backing from Ross Mason's family office, Dig Ventures
• Reaching a $10B valuation, e-commerce company, Quince, has raised $500 million in a Series E round with support from ICONIQ Capital

Source: FINTRX

 M&A Activity and Advisor Movement🚨

• Marking its second deal in the Pacific Northwest in 2026, Waverly Advisors has purchased Washington-based McBride Financial Advisors (BusinessWire)
• $660M Seattle, WA-based firm, Duncan & Haley, Ltd. joins Creative Planning (PR Newswire)
• After a string of acquisitions, Wells Fargo has taken on another UBS team, the Utah-based Webster Group (InvestmentNews)
• Leaving LPL, Furstenau Financial has joined Carson Wealth, bringing in $245M in client assets (AltsWire)

New Launch 

A $248 million Wisconsin-based father-son advisor team, Robert and Austin Luedtke, left Commonwealth Financial Network to launch their own RIA, Luedtke and Associates

• The team had joined Commonwealth in 2021 after a long stint with Principal Securities but chose independence following Commonwealth’s $2.7 billion acquisition by LPL Financial
• Rather than affiliate with another large platform, the Luedtkes opted for independence to maintain control over client experience, emphasizing personalized service over a corporate RIA model
• With $105 trillion in intergenerational wealth expected to transfer through 2048, including a majority likely to end up with women, some female advisors are responding to limited advancement by launching their own RIAs, with 39 female-founded firms created in 2025, up from 30 in 2021
  Source: Citywire

Reps On the Move ↗️

• Recently at Fannie Mae, Dr. Kelly YiYu Lin joins Bellevue, WA-based Fulcrum Wealth Advisors as Chief Economist (Financial Content)
• Kestra Private Wealth has chosen Jordan Cantrell to lead the newly launched Timeless Private Wealth, a boutique virtual family office focused on serving entrepreneurs and families (BusinessWire)
• The innovative therapeutics focused firm, Frazier Life Sciences has brought on Mansi Shinde, Ph.D as Vice President of Company Creation (BusinessWire)
• Investment Bank, Republic Capital Group, has named Lori Kamen Chief Compliance Officer (PR Newswire)

Women Enter Wealth Management, Leadership Gap Remains

More women are entering wealth management, but progress in client-facing and leadership roles remains limited, according to data from FINTRX. Women now make up 37.6% of registered professionals aged 20–30, signaling stronger entry into the industry. However, their representation in revenue-generating advisory roles has barely improved, with women accounting for only about 20% of producing advisors across most age groups. The imbalance extends to the C-suite, where women hold just 21.5% of roles and are more often in operational positions such as COO or CFO rather than CEO or Chief Investment Officer. The trend is particularly notable as women are expected to control a significant share of the estimated $105 trillion in wealth set to transfer by 2048. "Underrepresentation here directly affects female employees’ earnings," said FINTRX VP of Data & Research Emily Goldman, noting that limited access to revenue-generating roles constrains long-term career and compensation growth.

Sources: CNBC | FINTRX

FINTRX is the leading private wealth intelligence platform, offering the industry's most expansive and up-to-date data on registered investment advisors, broker-dealers, wealth teams, family offices, endowments, and foundations. Powered by industry-leading AI, FINTRX helps firms distribute funds, raise capital, recruit advisors, identify M&A targets, and drive strategic growth. FINTRX now provides access to data and intelligence covering 850,000+ financial firm and contract records, including more than 4,400 family offices and 44,000 RIA and broker-dealer firms. To learn more or request a trial, click below.